The Digital Impact Conference is dedicated to profiling the impact of digital technology on the business of communications. We are looking to spotlight projects, programs, organizations and individuals who are effectively leveraging the power of digital to get their message across, increase productivity and manage reputations.

I talk a lot about the need to do a better job of integrating social media into the world of higher education. That’s why when my alma mater asked me to speak at their annual Communication Week this year, I jumped at the opportunity. Because these students are already learning the basics of social media in their core communication classes, I didn’t want to do yet another Social Media 101 type presentation. Instead, I wanted to help them understand that even though they may learn what Twitter is, how to use it, and some case studies, there’s nothing like doing it in the real world. That’s why I gave a presentation titled “The 7 Things About Social Media That You’re Not Going to Learn in College.”

Here’s the presentation I gave, with the key takeaways below:

This is a preview of 7 Things About Social Media That College Won’t Teach You. Read the full post

So why all this focus and attention on online word of mouth? It’s because offline Word of Mouth is very difficult to do. It’s because marketers treat word of mouth as an output (sustaining the conversation) and not as an input (starting the conversation).

Of all the sessions I attended at the PRSA 2009 International Conference, this was the most conversational and engaging in terms of audience participation and unscripted dialogue. Emmanuel Tchividjian did a great job moderating the diverse perspectives from three very different professionals, and incorporated the spirit of the topic into his conversational format and open dialogue between the audience and the panelists. Further, his role as senior vice president and chief ethics officer for Ruder Finn lent a perspective of scholarly, almost Socratic moderation of a rather rhetorical discussion, as ethics can often be.
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This is a preview of What Does Ethics Have To Do With Social Media Anyway?. Read the full post

Huffington is known for her politically-influential Huffington Post blog, books and presence on National Public Radio’s “Left, Right, & Center” political roundtable.

Buchholz was a director of economic policy to President George H.W. Bush (W’s daddy). Since, he’s been a top-selling author, speaker, columnist and commentator on all things economic. He has also taught economics at Harvard and is a 2009 fellow at Cambridge University. Oh, and he is managing director of a $15 billion hedge fund. For more, see Buccholtz’s official bio. He’s reportedly quite the speaker.

This is a preview of Thank Heaven For YouTube: Selecting Just Eight of 80+ Possible 2009 International Conference Workshops. Read the full post

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